AUGUST 407 



produce a parallel passage to these opening lines of 

 Florian's poem of ' Ruth ' : 



Le plus saint des devoirs, celui qu'en trait de flamme 

 La nature a grave dans le fond de notre ame, 

 C'est de ch6rir Pobjet qui nous donna le jour. 

 Qu'il est doux a remplir ce precepte d'amour ! 

 Voyez ce faible enfant que le trepas menace ; 

 II ne sent plus ses maux quand sa mere 1'embrasse. 

 Dans 1'age des erreurs ce jeune homme fougueux 

 N'a qu'elle pour ami des qu'il est malheureux ; 

 Ce vieillard qui va perdre un reste de lumiere 

 Eetrouve encore des pleurs en parlant de sa m&re. 



Last summer, while waiting at a hot railway station 

 and pondering in my mind how I could bring together a 

 few notes that might help to solve some of the difficulties 

 in girls' lives, I caught sight of a little yellow publication 

 on the bookstall, called ' The Modern Marriage Market.' 

 It will be remembered that this consisted of four articles, 

 by ladies, reprinted from magazines. I bought it at once, 

 thinking that these ladies would probably say what I 

 wanted to say better than I could do it. It was interest- 

 ing to find that they severally took what, roughly speaking, 

 might be called the four sides of the question, though the 

 last article held the philosophic view that, as with most 

 affairs of life, there is much to be said on all sides. Miss 

 Marie Corel li holds up the little blind god Love as the 

 only one worthy to regulate our lives and destinies. 

 Lady Jeune is surprisingly satisfied with things as they 

 are. Mrs. Steel prefers even Eastern to Western customs 

 rather than ignore the importance of the future generation. 

 Lady Malmesbury takes, as I have already said, a broader 

 and more moderate view as regards the pros and cons of 

 the various points at issue. Most people would agree 

 that the matter is one on which it is almost impossible 

 to generalise, as so much depends on the enlightened 

 bringing-up of the girl herself. The whole question has 



